Mobile’s Derek Kane Long Racing for a Good Cause at Mobile International Speedway

By Kyle Brandt

IRVINGTON, Ala. (June 12, 2014) – You have probably heard him on Saturday mornings hosting a local racing show on the radio or have watched his traffic reports on television. What most don’t realize, however; is that Derek Kane Long is a regular competitor in the Bomber class at Mobile International Raceway every other Saturday night- and does so to raise awareness for some major causes.

Currently third in the points standings, the 2014 season has had its share of ups and downs for the Indiana transplant. Almost missing the start of the season due to his car not being finished in time, Kane had to rely on his former team in order to be ready for the season opener. Since then, he has shown great speed throughout the year, but has been unable to score his first win due to mechanical issues.

Despite the disappointments, there is a silver lining for Long. Each race week, his gold and black No. 5 has been faster than it was the week before.

This past weekend, a visit to Mobile’s victory for the first time appeared to be in the cards, but the familiar mechanical gremlins reared their ugly heads once again.

“I think we were really close with the race this past weekend, but we had fuel pump issues,” said Long earlier this week. “We would dive down into (turns) one and two and the car would shut off. I would physically have to crank the car back up to get it going again. If it wasn’t for that, we would have had our first win.”

“I really want to stand in that victory lane,” he continued. “There have been a lot of famous people, from the Allison’s up, that have stood there and I would be honored to have my name on that list. Whether it is a heat win or a feature win, obviously we want a feature, but BJ (Leytham) has been dominating that area and I think we have something for him.”